7/27/2019 Socialist Party leaflet for Higher Education Strike 31/10/13

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 Strike back againstpoverty pay!

Support HE workersEnd the 1%

Pay

Freeze

T UCmust name

t hedat ef or a24-hour gener alst r ik et odef eat Camer on’ saust er it y !

T UCmust namet heda

t ef or a24-hour gener alst r ik et odef eat Camer on’ saust er it y !

7/27/2019 Socialist Party leaflet for Higher Education Strike 31/10/13

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/socialist-party-leaflet-for-higher-education-strike-311013 2/2

31 October will be a day of coordinated

strike action by UCU, Unison and Unite

members working in Universities. This

is the first UK-wide joint action between

these Higher Education unions, demon-

strating the anger that their members

feel about the employers’ insulting 1%

pay increase.

Even pro-capitalist commentator Will

Hutton, writing in the Observer notes

that “The real wages of academics have

fallen by 13% since 2008, one of the

largest sustained wage cuts any pro-

fession has suffered since the Second

World War.” This is despite the scandal-

ously high fees charged to students,

which have subsidised lavish pay at the

upper echelons of University manage-

ment while ordinary teaching, research,

and support staff struggle.

 

We want a publicly funded system of 

Higher Education, free at the point of 

use and paying a fair wage to its work-

ers. In addition to real-terms pay cuts,

casualisation of all jobs is rife in the sec-

tor, including use of fixed-term, hourly-

paid and even the now-infamous ‘zero

hours’ contracts. This job insecurity to-

gether with management bullying and

excessive workloads will also motivate

UCU members to undertake a ‘work to

contract’ following the strike day. 

Many student organisations, including 

official students’ unions, have offered

support. It will be vital to build on these

links and make clear to students that

this industrial action strengthens their

fight for free education, particularly if 

exam marking ends up being affected.

Already propaganda about the USS pen-

sion scheme has tried to pit students

against staff – in fact this scheme is

healthy in any reasonable measure, and

a bizarre accounting practice is being 

used to claim students will end up ‘bail-

ing out’ their lecturers’ pensions. Noth-

ing could be further from the truth, but

this and similar falsehoods will be ped-

dled by the ConDem Government and

their media chums if the dispute contin-

ues. This and other elements of a serious

fighting strategy could see a victory in

the form of a significantly improved pay

offer. The government is already under

pressure from strikes by the CWU, FBU

and NAPO. But ultimately the dispute

has arisen from the politics of austerity

and we need to make links with other

unions – our members already look to

the dispute in the teachers’ unions NUT

and NASUWT and the call for a one-day

general strike against austerity is gain-ing ground. Socialists in Higher Educa-

tion unions will fight to make it a reality.

socialism2013

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A WEEKEND OF DISCUSSIONAND DEBATE, HOSTED BY

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Socialism 2013 is a crucialevent for all those want-ing to ght back. The Con-Dems’ brutal austerity con-tinues, the world economyand Eurozone remain in cri-

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RALLY FOR SOCIALISMSPEAKERS INCLUDE

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GENERAL SECRETARY

A SOUTH AFRICAN MINER

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2 NOVEMBER, 6:30PM,

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Trade Unionist and

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www.shopstewards.net WWW.TUSC.ORG.UK

The NSSN has been to the fore of the

campaign for a 24-hour general strike,

organising lobbies, protests, petitions

and more.

Organising mutual solidarity when trade

unions are in dispute has been at the heart

of our work. The NSSN brings together

fighting trade union activists to share ideas

and to build a united struggle.Initiated by the RMT in 2006, the NSSN

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The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coa-lition (TUSC) was set-up in 2010 toenable trade unionists, community campaigners and socialists to standcandidates against the pro-austerity establishment parties.TUSC has a clear position of opposingall cuts, and candidates endorse a clear

10-point programme (see the website).TUSC was set up by the RMT andincludes other leading trade union